(Chicago Tribune) — Shortly before Tim Baldermann retired as Chicago Ridge’s police chief, the town boosted his salary by more than $70,000, handing the 44-year-old as big a paycheck in retirement as he earned full time on the police force.
The deputy police chief, who sat on the pension board, received a similar deal. As it did for Baldermann, the town added Dennis Kapelinski’s unused vacation time to his final salary — in exchange for opting out of insurance coverage — and gave him a 20 percent raise just before he retired, documents show.